Students hack school web filters
by David MastersTech-savvy students continue to find ways of working around school web filters to access blocked content, web filtering service Bloxx warned this week. Schoolchildren are using anonymous proxy services to bypass website blocks and access violent material, dangerous information, and inappropriate content, Bloxx said. "Students are increasingly finding new subversive ways to access web content that is typically blocked or restricted by their education facility's web filter," said Eamonn Doyle, Bloxx chief ...
Password promiscuity puts Brits at risk of cyber-fraud
by David MastersOver 1.7 million Brits risk being caught out by cyber-criminals because they use the same password for all their online accounts. New research found that nearly half (46%) of UK adults use the same password to log in to banking, shopping, and social networking sites. A further 54% confessed to using variations of the same password across all sites. Nearly one in seven (68%) claimed it is too difficult to remember multiple passwords. This ...
August 24, 2009
Is Simon Cowell a closet computer hacker?
by David MastersThe mystery hacker who "leaked" unreleased music singles of X-Factor star Leona Lewis was probably Simon Cowell, a security expert claimed this week. Amichai Shulman, chief executive of data security specialist Imperva, said the supposed leak was most likely an elaborate publicity stunt. "The Daily Mail reports that `hackers' have gained unauthorised access to the servers at Syco Records, and stolen three unreleased songs by the former X Factor winner, and then ...
July 13, 2009
NHS infected by 8,000 computer viruses
by David MastersNHS computers have been infected by more than 8,000 viruses in the past year. A Freedom of Information investigation by More4 News found that malicious computer viruses have forced hospitals to divert non-emergency ambulances, and postpone blood tests and X-rays. Other viruses locked administrative staff out of their computer systems, in one case creating a three-week back-log of appointments. The worst virus, the Mytob worm, caused havoc in three major London hospitals in ...
July 10, 2009
Credant warns firms to encrypt customer data
by David MastersSecurity specialist Credant Technologies has reminded all firms that store customer details to ensure that they encrypt data. Credant issued the warning following reports that the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has taken action against a UK-based insurance company for failing to protect the data of over 2,000 policy holders. The Lloyds-owned insurance firm lost an unencrypted disk holding the customer data, and has been told by the ICO to sign a 'formal ...
June 29, 2009
Financial services firms use unsecured email
by David MastersNearly nine in ten financial services providers do not secure their email communications, new research has discovered. A poll by Origo, the standards body for eCommerce in the UK financial services industry, found that 87% of financial services firms do not use a secure email system. Despite this, 94% said they use email to send personal, sensitive, or confidential data. Over half (58%) said they are waiting for an industry-wide standard to be ...
June 24, 2009
IT professionals lax about mobile passwords
by David MastersIT professionals believe password protecting mobile handsets is a waste of time, according to a new study. Over a third of IT security workers polled by Credant Technologies confessed to not protecting their personal or work smartphone with a password, despite knowing that their handset contains sensitive data. This is only slightly better than the general public, two in five of whom have no password protection on their mobile phone. Credant blamed the ...
June 10, 2009
IT staff confess insider snooping
by David MastersMore than a third of IT administrators abuse their privileged access to IT systems to download confidential data such as board meeting minutes, redundancy lists, and marketing strategies, a new survey has discovered. The poll by data security firm Cyber-Ark found that 35% of senior IT professionals in the UK and the US admit to snooping, while nearly three quarters (74%) said they could access information not relevant to their role ...
Teens have free rein of family PCs
by David MastersMore than half of UK parents are clueless about what their children get up to online, a new survey has revealed. Only 3% of Brits monitor the online behaviour of their children, the study found, leaving 97% of teens free to do as they please whilst connected to the Internet. Parents are particularly worried about the amount of time their kids spend on social networks, with 55% of parents wishing their children ...
June 9, 2009
E-scams and phishing hit record levels
by David MastersA record number of internet users have been targeted by online scammers in the last 12 months. Over three quarters (77%) of Brits have been targeted by phishing emails, whilst seven in ten have received bogus pleas for money. Two thirds (67%) have been told they've won a competition only to discover that it was a scam designed to steal personal details. Fraudsters are becoming increasingly ingenious in their e-scams, with the most ...
June 1, 2009
Content filter Bloxx “in a different league”
by David MastersWeb content filter Bloxx is “in a different league” compared to other content monitoring solutions, according to the Ian Trevean, network manager at Hampton School. Hampton School installed Bloxx's Tru-View appliance 12 months ago to monitor the Internet usage of its 1,100 students and 200 staff. The school's previous security solution prevented the school's IT managers from reclassifying sites that needed to be blocked or allowed. Instead, they had to submit requests to ...
May 11, 2009
Security firms called in to swine flu battle
by David MastersComputer security firms are playing a vital but little known role in the global fight against swine flu. Secure electronic communications allow governments and health agencies to keep up to date on how the virus is developing worldwide. "The secure and rapid dissemination of information has been - and will continue to be - a central plan to health agencies' IT strategies in dealing with the Swine Flu outbreak," said Roy Adar, ...
April 29, 2009
SmoothWall launches hardware version of Guardian web filter
by David MastersUK-based SmoothWall this week launched Guardian Secure Web Gateway (GSWG), a new rack-mounted web filtering application. GSWG is a hardware version of SmoothWall's Guardian web filter software, and is the fourth hardware appliance launched by the company since 2007. The Guardian web filter uses intelligent content analysis, rather than a URL-based blocklist approach to block malicious websites and prevent employees from accessing personal email and social networking sites. SmoothWall product manager Tom Newton ...
April 7, 2009
One in three UK teens would hack for money
by David MastersOne in three British teenagers would consider hacking or spying on people online if they knew they'd make money from it, new research revealed this week. Today's kids lack 'e-morals' and 'netiquette', the research concluded, as they spend time online looking for ways to make fast cash. Forty percent of the teens polled said they have hacked into another person's online account to read emails, look at bank details, or have a ...
April 2, 2009
Unsecured USBs could cause ‘total meltdown’
by David MastersBusinesses are being warned to check for malware on their computer systems today, as staff distracted by April Fool's jokes may have let their guard slip. USB safestick provider BlockMaster warned that hackers may yesterday have used the opportunity given by April Fool's day to take advantage of the lack of care paid to USB security. With 20,000,000 unsecured USB sticks used in businesses, and with 62% of employees leaving sticks plugged ...
March 30, 2009
West Midlands Police choose Sysec PKI
by David MastersSysec Security Group has won a contract with West Midlands Police to provide a secure Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) as part of the authority's Gateway programme. Sysec's PKI will provide secure access to Gateway that complies with the requirements of the National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA) and the PND. West Midlands Police, the second largest police force in the UK, plans to use Gateway to integrate access to computer systems and information, ...
March 27, 2009
Remote backup approaching a ‘tipping point’
by David MastersRemote backup solutions are reaching a 'tipping point', Connect said this week, with half of UK business IT departments planning to move their file backup system online within the next three years. IT support company Connect surveyed IT managers and directors at 151 companies, and found that 22% are already using a remote backup service. An additional 28% said they will change from traditional digital tape-based backup to a remote service within ...
March 20, 2009
Brits naive about mobile phone security
by David MastersOver four million people in the UK keep highly sensitive identity data stored unsecured on their mobile handset, according to research by Credant Technologies. One in six (16%) of those surveyed were found to store bank account details on their mobile phones, whilst almost a quarter (24%) keep passwords and pin codes on their handsets. One in ten use their phone to store credit card details, and a similar number (11%) store ...
January 29, 2009
Fraudulent payments gnaw at revenues
by David MastersOne in eight online UK businesses had over 5% of 2008 revenues stolen by fraudsters, according to secure payment provider CyberSource. More than one third of the 150 firms surveyed by CyberSource lost at least 1% of revenues to fraud, whilst 60 of the businesses said fraud had increased compared to 2007. Overall, online fraud - customers paying for goods using fake or stolen details - increased 2.6% on year. Fifty-two percent of ...
April 20, 2008
UK phishing attacks double
by Dave NixonPhishing attacks on UK customers have more than doubled for the first quarter of this year, according to Apacs, the UK payment association. Apacs recorded more than 10,000 reported phishing incidents in the first quarter of 2008, in excess of 200 percent up from the same period last year. Online banking victims due to fraud have decreased by one-third from £33.5m in 2006 to £22.6m in 2007, Apacs said, but ...